Terrific event. Two star performances: Michaella Krajicek and Hawkeye.
The Hopman Cup was the first ITF tennis tournament to allow players to invoke the Hawkeye system to adjudicate close line-calls. There was full on acclaim for the implementation of this technology which removed the acrimony common when linesmen made human errors. Hawkeye will spread to Grand Slam tournaments pretty quickly. I’m thinking Wimbledon will be the last to adopt it. Cricket administrators! Get with it! LBWs! The Snickometer!
I have one suggestion for the Hopman Cup. About mixed doubles: it’s great to see both sexes on court enjoying themselves but men serve harder and hit the ball harder than women. It can be an unbalanced contest. If the team receiving service changed sides after each point it would be possible for the girls always to serve to the girls and the boys to the boys. This would remove the main disparity; when men serve to women.
The Hopman Cup has the potential to be more popular on television than a Grand Slam event. Just needs a little fine-tuning.
